We have had lots of rain lately. A local newspaper stated that the Philadelphia area has had about two feet of rain in the past two months. So when there is the prospect of a beautiful Saturday, we had to take advantage of it. I was able to con Bill into going along as my chauffeur by promising him breakfast and a visit to a Viet Nam Veterans Appreciation celebration. He took me up on the breakfast immediately and then we headed for southern Chester county. We ended up right on the Delaware River and there were many apparent signs of high water from the rains. I quickly located the box while Bill stood looking up at the underside of the Commodore Barry bridge. He seemed totally fascinated with it and when I asked him what he was thinking, he told me that he was marveling that only 40 bolts were holding up the section of the bridge that he was inspecting. The cars and trucks were zooming over us and that thought did make me take a step back away from the bridge.
Jumping ahead a little in time, I did mention that I had found the box and stamped in. When I got home, I logged my find on AQ and commented that I was really surprised that I had been first finder on this box which is basically a driveby. It had been in place for a couple of months. The planter of the box seemed relieved that I had found it because he had had several reports that it was missing. I then received another email from Idlemoon who was excited that I HAD found it and was going to make a return visit to stamp in. This got me to thinking. So I emailed the planter, Lightnin' Bug, and described the box that I had found to him and commented that when I found this box, I had thought that it was not his normal style of box, but that it was in the exact spot that he described in the clues. It turned out that this was NOT his box and that some mystery person had placed another box in the exact same location. There was no identification on the box I found, simply a stamp of sorts, a scroll of paper and a pencil. There was a notation on the scroll but it was illegible. This was one of the weirdest things that I have ever found in my 8 years of boxing.
From the mysterious box, we headed to Fort Mifflin, for a box there and also for the Viet Nam veterans days. Bill served in the Navy aboard the USS Perry in Viet Nam and is very proud of his time served. His service has led us to gatherings of Perry veterans all over the country and we have rekindled some of his old friendships from the ship. In fact, it is because of an old Navy friend that we now own a home in Florida also. Bill bought the house from his friend's father and he now snowbirds there while I stay here and shovel snow and work.
But back to Fort Mifflin which is also know as Fort Mudd. The fort is also along the Delaware River and is very flat. It is surrounded by high dirt walls which served as protection during the Revolutionary War. The high walls around the flat fort turn the area into a pool when it rains a normal rain and with two feet of rain recently, it was a mess. Around the high walls is a moat which is now filled with lily pads.
Well, to say that this walk was muddy is understating. There are no walks to lead from one area to the other so we decided to just agree that our shoes were going to be muddy and trudge on. We started by standing on the balcony where we bought our admission tickets and surveying the fort. You can see the Delaware River peaking through in the far lower left corner.
I didn't take a lot of pictures this day because I was focusing more on not sinking in mud but I was impressed with the bunkers that also served as protection for the soldiers during this early American war.
Somehow, I don't really believe that the interior of the bunker was lined with brick and peeling paint during George Washington's time but this is the inside of the bunker and one of the few non muddy places.
I have to mention that the Viet Nam veteran's celebration was a bit of a letdown. There were several tables of items which were common in everyday civilian life at the time and others filled with military items of the era but that was really about all there was. I always get choked up when someone says to Bill "thank you for your service" but one thing that always makes me giggle is that so many of them also say "welcome home". We heard a lot of both of those comments this day. Bill has been home from Viet Nam for 42 years. I know that a lot of people did not come home from that awful war but I still find it an odd thing to say and we do hear it often. About the only thing that really seemed picture worthy of the Viet Nam celebration is this Vietnamese man talking to an American GI. This picture did hit home with me because no one really understood this war...er, conflict... and seeing two different cultures here was an effective educational tool for me.
I had collected my box while we were tramping through the mud here and as we were leaving, Bill gave the ultimate compliment about boxing, something that he normally ridicules. He said "You sure do take me to some interesting places on these boxes!" Congratulations, Idlemoon, for getting us to a new spot and making Bill happy.
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